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Wenger set to drop Xhaka for Arsenal at Liverpool?

We do not see Arsene Wenger laying into the Arsenal players, ever, and he does not even like to talk about any individual who might have just had a bad game. The Frenchman will pick out areas where Arsenal have not played well, such as defence or creating or finishing chances, but rarely does he point to one player in particular.

But that is what Wenger did after the away defeat to Stoke City on Saturday, even though he did not use the name of Granit Xhaka, because it was the Swiss international who made the stupid mistake of giving the ball away under no real pressure that the boss spoke about in his post match comments reported by The Guardian.

He said, “This is a kind of night when you are angry because not only did we not score for the number of chances we had, we made stupid mistakes centrally – first by losing the ball and then we didn’t defend properly for the goal.”

That sloppy pass by the central midfielder cost Arsenal the game and a very similar one against Leicester City in the opening EPL match almost cost us points as well. I also think that the not defending properly accusation from our manager included Xhaka as he did not break his neck to track back and make up for the error.

So if Wenger is criticising this player do you think he means to drop him from the team for a while, or at least for our trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday? Arsenal do have options in that position, with Elneny, Ramsey and the fit again Coquelin, so is it time for Xhaka to step aside until he can sort himself out?

38 thoughts on “Wenger set to drop Xhaka for Arsenal at Liverpool?”

Ain’t we just typical Arsenal. Singing Xhaka’s praises after the two assists that helped us past Leicester last week. Now lose to Stoke and Xhaka is the anti-Christ. This club and its supporters are bloody patheric. No wonder no one wants to come and play for us nowadays!!! If I was a pro footballer there is no way I would want to play in front of our dumb arse supporters

We need to drop kreonke and then Wenger and then a few players. Half the squad feel like they are too good. Sanchez ox ozil bellerin. The other half are maybe good enough or do not have the right pressure. Walcott welbeck Ramsey giroud. And the rest probs just are no longer inspired. It’s time to go #kreonkeout #WENGEROUT and take Sanchez ozil and ox with you. Bring me some players that don’t think they are bigger than the club

Xhaka is a great player. However he is abysmal defensively. The fault is Wengers for not playing an established DM especially with three at the back !!! Three at the back with Xhaka (who is box to box) and Ramsey (who is attacking) left the defence exposed. You can’t blame the players !!!

Totally agree, losing the ball in the oppositions half shouldn’t automatically mean you concede. Defending was shambolic. What should we expect though when we are only playing with 1 recognised CB.
If we don’t sign another CB this window its a joke!

Those two mistakes (Leicester / Stoke) are the only two we got punished for. He gave the ball away cheaply on more occasions than that. And it happens in more games than it doesn’t, with varying degrees of sloppiness/danger.

Time for the banners boys and the empty seats. Let’s force some action. Sell the dead wood on the cheap. If u get 5m for Gibbs Perez and the rest then great. Or if you just simply stop them playing they will soon move. This is a joke of a club we act like we are poor and this is making things worse and worse. We turn our noses up at 5th but 7th is coming soon. When ozil ox Sanchez and whoever else run down their contract then what. Oh look we have to pay over the odds to replace them but no one will come because we finished 7th because ozil Sanchez and ox no longer want to play. Now we have to offer wages of 250,000 plus to all players to get anyone decent
Remember city and Chelsea before they got where they are. At one point city had spent more on 1 or w players than what some teams had payed for their whole squad. Now they are both as bog as arsenal.

Be a supporter you tool, I’m fed up with losers like you who expect the team to finish first every year (an impossible dream). We’ve played two games, I can’t remember the last time a team claimed the Premiership in August. I was disappointed by the loss as much as the next person, but its losers like you who should take responsibility for our disappointing run-in last season. The negativity around the stadium was palpable. How’s the team supposed to be up for a game if there are sections of the crowd baying for their blood everytime they make a mistake. Placard carrying fools like you are what needs to be driven out of our wonderful club. Go and follow the 56 year losers down the road, you’ll fit right in. Your empty seat will wilfully be bought by real supporters.

It’s not that we have lost one game. It’s the fact that the same thing has happened for over the past 10 years. Why do we look shakey against mid level teams w games in. Common Leister was not a good win at all. If your happy with mediocrity maybe it’s you who should go and support crystal palace or west ham. I’m not happy and I was not since last season since the season before. So no not after 2 games. After several years of slowly dropping behind untd then Chelsea then city is when I have now began to complain

People talk about the deadwood, so then let’s name them. Wenger, Kroenke, Gazidis, Law, Chips Keswick and all the other parasites who do nothing at all but “run” our formerly great and honourable club. By comparison to these clueless money grabbing waste of space FOSSILS, the players deadwood, Gibbs, Campbell, Debuchy and that ilk are positively worldbeaters. Note I say, BY COMPARISON. OUR CLUB IS RIDDLED WITH CANCER TOP TO BOTTOM AND ONLY A COMPLETE CHANGE OF ALL IN CHARGE AND THEN IMPORTING SOME PLAYERS WHO ACTUALLY CARE FOR THE SHIRT, WILL EVER RESTORE OUR FORMER GLORY.

Arsenal is the 6th richest club in the world and also has the 5th most fans in the world. Everyone knows financialy we are very stable. The problem is not the money. It’s the lack of spending to improve. Chelsea is also in top 10 of richest clubs behind us but have a moved ahed of us in fan base to 5th place. City are nowhere near as they are recent winners and have not had much time in champions league. We are the losers earners for the past 5 years in CL and one of the least watched teams. The problem is our use of money and how we generate it. Instead of reinvesting in the club and making a huge signing like pogba raheam sterling mota Diego costa. We get Xaka who is good but unheard of or players like this. I think lacazzete was a great signing due to his profile but sponsors and fans alike are not gonna go crazy over arsenal and 1 signing it’s now too late. We need another 2 or 3 to have the pundits talking about us and the youth buying T-shirts of players they know and love. Neymar is more than just a great footballer he is a brand. Arsenal need more players that are brands. At utd half of the squad has been on fifa covers or have headed huge advertising campaigns not like arsenal
We have ozil and more recently Sanchez. Chelsea had guys like hazard john Terry kante a recent famous league wimner as it was with leister. We nees big house hold names who will recover the money in t-shirt sales etc. This is how money is made now. Utd are still richer than us because they get this concept.

6th richest in terms of asset or what? If money in the bank then we are up there because we are not spending much. If Wenger is kicked out, there could be a better replacement but that doesn’t guarantee success cos 100 million budget on transfer won’t but 2 world class players. I don’t see Arsenal spending pass $150m in a transfer window without selling to balance the book. Teams like Mancity, psg, Chelsea can kick out managers and be successful cos they have enough money to spend. Don’t tell me Wenger will refuse the option of having Neymar in Arsenal if Kroenke buys him. Arsenal problem could be more than Wenger, before you thumb me down about Wenger’s tactics, a Leicester winning the league happened by chance. Would be hard for any underdog to do the same in couple of years.

Also get Diego someone. And if he doesn’t work sack him until we find the right guy. I used to make that excuse of who is next. Sometimes you gotta gamble. We did it when we got Wenger he wasn’t having a great time before joining us then boom. The man became a legend. But that fairy tale is over.

The loss to Stoke was touch. But, facts were that penalty was not given, which would have turned the whole game, as Stoke would have to attack rather than sit back. Fact is also that Lacazette’s brilliant strike was denied. Then consider that the defense is playing with those just returning with Koz still not back.

All that said, I do think Wenger (and others around here) miss the true value of Sead Kolasinac, who is under utilized at the back, and belongs in the middle, as I noted last week.
This “tank” should be the mid-field protector, allowing Xhaka to be Xhaka, and also to bring Xhaka down to earth when he is careless with soft passes and clearances.

3-5-2 (without Alexis, if sold, but slot him into Welbeck’s place)

……..Giroud..Lacazette……… [Both must play to make them both more effective]
Welbeck….Ozil…..Iwobi/Ox [Best line would be Alexis-Ozil-Iwobi]
…….Xhaka….Sead…… [Both for the tough games, and for weaker teams use Ramsay]
…Mustafi-Per-Holding… [Best line would be Mustafi-Per-Koz; most stay at home back 3, zero goals conceded.]
…………Czech………… [Ospina for games with teams that have a fast front.]

Giroud and Lacazette have to play together more to get both the aerial threat and fox-in-the-box threat.

Neither Monreal not Bellerin can be played in games with big players, where it is easy to knock them off the ball. Per or Koz has to play with Holding to give the younger man some confidence.

Best to sell one of the Ox or Theo now. Then use Iwobi, who is now the better player, with a better football brain, with Welbeck available if Sanchez stays.

Drop him and then what? Well need him at some point. He’ll probably fancy and enjoy a week off paid!
So kavacic to Liverpool likely, Seri to barca and we move jenks and Bramhall to b’bam on loan, woooa steady on now arsene!
How did we get ourselves in a situation where we have so many undesirable players on high wages and even poorly performing first teamers on astronomical wages, theo!

What a mess. I actually remeber thinking debuchy was a decent player when we bought him from Newcastle and he was fighting sagna for the rb slot.
I know that was a while ago but look what we’ve done to him along with the likes of perez, Joel Campbell, etc
Wish we had got Loftus cheek on loan for the season commanding performance against Liverpool even though they lost.

So Ramsey and Elneny then … Ffing club in a complete state of decay … Franco american alliance working out as expected … Arrogant technocratic elitist plus short thermist corporate tool … Club will decay further with these twa@@@ running the show that’s for sure

I am happy we have both Xhaka and Mustafi but I think at around £35 million each Wenger overpaid.

We have a major problem with CM. We don’t have one that can compete with Pogba and Matic OR Kante and Bakayoko OR Dembele/Wanyama/Sissoko

Our defensive midfielders are average but occasionally above average. Our World Class CM Cazorla is out for long time. Ramsey, Xhaka are okay but nothing special.
BTW Getting Brozovich would not improve us. He isn’t much of an upgrade

We could have got Seri, Goretzka, Carvalho, Gueye, Matuidi, Krychowiak etc. There are plenty of talented CM out there. But alas we can’t rely on Wenger to do the sensible thing

Apparently Seri’s release clause expired but Barcelona will probably get a good deal for Seri at around £40-45million rather than the £36 million. Wish Wenger had activated the release clause.

Wenger may actually make money this summer. Kolsanic was free, Lacazette £46 million. Sold Szczesny for £10 million and Gabriel for £10 million. If Wenger gets £27 million or more for the remaining players he sells he will make money for Kroenke because I highly doubt he will purchase anymore. Never say never but it seems Wenger is more interested in Balancing the books than winning trophies

Wenger is too loyal to Kroenke
Wenger is too loyal to our squad
Wenger is very stubborn and set in his ways
Wenger has too much responsibilities at Arsenal and is obsessed with finances

Jj pawn has got a point with all this, the oil money is what’s bringing the gap between us and the likes of city etc.

I think people should do some reading/research on psgs recent history which explains how the club is coming by hundreds of millions of pounds for players. Basically it’s all political and the Qatar people/country are funding this as a gift to the Parisians.
So it’s not just rich owners now with psg we are actually competing against funding from a wealthy country!
Barca and real Madrid should be nervous.

It is a right decision as it hepls him to improve.Xhaka is a goog long range paaser. However, he is careless in defending and he often gives the ball away in adangerous position. He needs to be improved in these areas.

Ozil needs a partner to play with. Many great midfielders work in pairs. Xhaka and Ramsey are not players for him to link up with. Xhaka is not at the level and loses the ball in dangerous situation. Ramsey is a bit better and also loses the ball, regularly as we attack, leaving us open. At first Ozil was great with little Santiago Cazorla, and we know how well he works with Alexis. I would suggest we go for little Jean Michael Seri, who could balance and work with Ozil. Xhaka and Elneny pull us down to mid table level. We should have got Harry Maguire, cheap but good. How we are going to plug our defense is a conundrum. If we don’t solve it we are in a lot of trouble. Cannot believe he sold Gabriel. If Wenger sells Chambers he is a madman.

Ozil needs a partner to play with. Many great midfielders work in pairs. Xhaka and Ramsey are not players for him to link up with. Xhaka is not at the level and loses the ball in dangerous situation. Ramsey is a bit better and also loses the ball, regularly as we attack, leaving us open. At first Ozil was great with little Santi Cazorla, and we know how well he works with Alexis. I would suggest we go for little Jean Michael Seri, who could balance and work with Ozil. Xhaka and Elneny pull us down to mid table level. We should have got Harry Maguire, cheap but good. How we are going to plug our defense is a conundrum. If we don’t solve it we are in a lot of trouble. Cannot believe he sold Gabriel. If Wenger sells Chambers he is a madman.